European Imperialism

European Imperialism



European Imperialism

Introduction

Imperialism is the political doctrine that justifies the domination of people or state or others. It has been given throughout history and now usually refers to the attitude of some powers, mostly European, from the early modern period to the process of decolonization after the Second World War, and more specifically, whether the name Age of Imperialism, used by historians, the period from 1871 to 1919 (Tilley & Gordon, 2007), when there was a race to build empires, notably the so-called Scramble for Africa. In this period refer two of the most important texts that set the concept: Imperialism, a study of Hobson, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, of Lenin. It should be mentioned that, imperialism and colonization, are similar but not identical terms as they may be confused, and used as synonyms. From a Marxist perspective, imperialism is not a finishing period of history, nor an extinct form of political domination, but the way in which share ownership is concentrated in "central" countries. The "peripheral" countries (in political science also used the nomenclature "north-south") suffer in this way the exploitation of the former (ibid). Labor and natural resources are concentrated in the peripheral countries but not their "management" and, therefore, consumption.

Discussion

The rise of European imperialism under the leadership of Great Britain took place during the Industrial Revolution. The resulting progress in heavy industry played in shipping an increasingly larger role. The steamship enabled new dimensions. Coal, steel and iron, were important to a power indicator. Britain tried to get through the industrialization of agri-industrial state to change. The increase in mass production demanded new markets, it was hoped that this can be found in the colonies. In the colonies, there were also plenty of unused agricultural land, the huge profit margins allowed. By 1914, a quarter of the globe as the Pax Britannica of the glorious British world power was controlled (Porter, 2010).

The French imperialist ambitions were primarily in competition with the English nemesis. Achieving a world power status had the highest priority. The result was, above all, a competition in the colonies. France had many colonies in America and India, but it had to resign after the Seven Years' War with England. Also, large parts of northern Africa were colonies of France.

Founded in 1871, German Reich developed only after the removal of Bismarck in 1890 under Kaiser Wilhelm II with the "new course" imperialist-oriented policies. In 1897, urged the later Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow in the Reichstag, a German "place in the sun." The premise of a prestigious national thinking should shape the German "global politics" until 1914 (Hoskins, 2008). The German colonial policy, however, began in 1884/85. Bismarck gave several African regions and New Guinea, the status of a German protectorate, which was initially motivated by Bismarck only economically. Within a few years, however, these areas have been converted into formal colonies. In the era, of "global politics" could later be only a few (ibid), small areas purchased. The colonies were acquired from Germany economically and strategically uninteresting, because they ...